Aftermath of Chaos
by SmashersUnited
Summary: Tabuu's been defeated, and peace restored. But how did it start, and what of the world now that it's over? One-shot, rated T to be safe, no pairings. Warning: very angsty!


**I decided to break away from my usual genre of humor and try something serious. I have this under Angst because it is kinda-sorta dark literature, which is something I've never done so I don't really know if this is qualified as Angst or Dark...**

**Either way, the idea for this story just kind of hit me one night and I had to type it. It's sort of an experiment for me writing-wise. I don't know if this idea was done before, but it sure was interesting to type.**

**Enjoy.**

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Aftermath of Chaos

Dawn had always been such a perfect time of day. The first rays of a magnificent sun sweeping over the gorgeous natural landscape really gave a feel of true beauty and peace. And in This World, with its magnificent scenery and big, bright sun, the sunrise was especially beautiful. Master Hand stared at the horizon, at the little sliver of light penetrating out of the ocean, and looked away. Dawn used to be his favorite time of day, but now, he couldn't bear to see such a glorious light reflected on such a barren, war-torn land.

It had already been many months since Tabuu's evil regime was wiped of the land, yet the scars never healed, the damaged never fixed. War is not something so easily forgotten, and the heroes who saved This World, who saved Master Hand, paid as big a price as any. And it was Master Hand's fault.

Master Hand turned his back to the rising sun and fled towards Terra Firma Stadium, the site of the first real casualty of war. A war he had failed to prevent. It was him who found This World floating in the most desolate section of the 10th dimension. It was him who filled its beautiful landscape with life. It was him who swore to protect his creations. And it was him who made the fatal mistake:

Tabuu.

Why oh why did he have to make Tabuu?

That trophy had always been Master Hand's prized possession, his favorite toy. All of his other toys and trophies had been given life and set free to roam This World. But Tabuu, Master Hand had never wanted to release Tabuu; he had never wanted Tabuu to know and experience the many pains that came with the gift of life. And yet, he still let Tabuu go.

That was his first mistake.

Master Hand continued his flight towards Terra Firma, his favorite arena. He used to have his little creations fight for his amusement there. Even after Master Hand outgrew the senseless violence of watching Brawls, his little trophies continued to fight; they still enjoyed it, they still do. And it was during one of those friendly matches that the first heroes of war were forced into action.

When Master Hand reached Terra Firma, it was still dark; the sun had yet to rise high enough in the sky to illuminate it. Master Hand looked around and saw another Hand sleeping in the darkness of the stage. Master Hand looked away in shame. He didn't deserve to walk in on his brother uninvited, not after what he'd done.

Tabuu, once free, immediately reveled in the freedom he was denied for so long. But he was confined to the Subspace, an alternate version of This World that Master Hand had created to keep Tabuu safe. But to Tabuu, it was hardly better than the imprisonment of trophy-life. He wanted more, he wanted true freedom, he wanted revenge. Revenge on the one who refused him life for so long, yet kept him detained even after life was granted. Tabuu gathered an army of others who wanted to change This World to suit themselves, an army of creatures who had been given the privilege of life both in This World and the Subspace, an army of those who he believed would pose a threat were they not on his side, and he sent them after Master Hand.

But the army was confused. They had no idea where Master Hand was, or how to destroy him. After many months of searching, the army stumbled upon who they thought was their target, asleep in the jungle. Not knowing what to do, the army brought the Hand to their master; they brought Crazy Hand to Tabuu.

Master Hand had not been able to find his brother the next morning. He assumed Crazy Hand had gone off to try and destroy more of Master Hand's creations, and put more effort into protecting his trophies than finding his brother.

That was his second mistake.

Tabuu was furious that after months of waiting, his army had brought him the wrong Hand. He interrogated Crazy Hand about Master Hand's whereabouts, but got no response. Crazy Hand refused to tell Tabuu anything; he could tell Tabuu was dangerous. Furious, Tabuu resorted to torture. Before the war, Crazy Hand was called his name due to his reckless and unpredictable personality. After the war, his name fit him literally; Tabuu had tortured him to insanity.

Master Hand took one last look at Terra Firma before heading for the clouds, not wanting to face his brother when the rising sun woke him up. Even after months and months of trying everything he could think of, Master Hand could not restore his brother's sanity, not with the little power the war had left him with. His brother deserved better than him.

As Master flew through the clouds, he noted that they were still grey, stained with the particles of dead Primid forces. It was another price of war, a war Master Hand had helped start.

After months without sign of his brother, Master Hand had started to grow worried. He began scouring the land for signs of the missing Hand. So preoccupied with his search, Master Hand had let his own guard down and failed to recognize the dangers of wandering so openly. He didn't bother to conceal himself as he searched, believing that none of his creations would ever wish him or his brother any harm.

That was his third mistake.

It was only a matter of time for Tabuu to locate and capture Master Hand. In the Hand's confusion and denial of such a betrayal by his own prized trophy, it was even easier for Tabuu to gain full control over his creator by use of the Chains of Light. Tabuu didn't want to destroy Master Hand, not just yet.

As Master Hand continued progressing through the clouds, he eventually broke back out into the fresh air again, back at the ocean. He had traveled down and back the length of This World without ever looking at the battle scars it held. Master Hand couldn't help but feel cowardly at this knowledge. But all sense of cowardice vanished when Master Hand caught sight of a vast wreckage just off the coast, gleaming in the sunlight. It was the Halberd, the once proud ship of one of the war's heroes, or what was left of it. The ship had been stolen by Tabuu's forces before the war, and was destroyed not long after the heroes recovered it. Such a fine aircraft that Master Hand unwittingly destroyed.

With Master Hand at his fingertips, Tabuu easily gained the trust of four of Master Hand's creations. They were not only extremely loyal to Master Hand, but also born villains. Master Hand, under Tabuu's control ordered these men to do terrible things, such as stealing the Halberd, capturing an unwitting bystander to use in the creation of more Primids, forcing the leader of an intelligent robot race to destroy his own men for Tabuu's desires, and hunting down those who would do anything to stop Tabuu. Of course, when Tabuu's façade was revealed, those four turned on him, but not before causing catastrophic damage.

However, during that rebellion, Master Hand broke free of the Chains of Light. The damage the chains had done severely weakened him, yet his rage pushed him to strike back.

That was his fourth and final mistake.

Tabuu's Off Waves were too strong. Master Hand was knocked out, almost all of his power stripped away. When Master Hand regained consciousness, Tabuu was defeated, trophyfied, and his trophy destroyed. Master Hand had found himself on a large cliff, weak and nearly powerless, looking up at a giant X in the sky.

Master Hand turned away from the wreckage of the Halberd and looked to the sky, at the same X he had woken to all those months ago. The X marked the location of the final battle against Tabuu, the location of his downfall. It also marked the former location of the Isle of the Ancients, the home of the robotic race, ROB. Master Hand bowed his head in tribute to the loss of such a wonderful race, a race with only one lone survivor.

The X was visible in all the skies of This World. It was a marker of the final chapter of Tabuu's regime, and the most devastating. Almost all life in This World was destroyed in the events leading to the final showdown. Besides the 36 brave heroes who helped take down Tabuu, only 10 others survived the Subspace Invasion, Master and Crazy Hand being two of them. The losses were devastating; many heroes refuse to look up at the sky, preferring not to be reminded of the chaos of war.

Master Hand turned towards the mainland. Even the little stretch of land he could see from his position was dotted with war scars. Though his powers were steadily returning, he could not fix the horror Tabuu had created, and the heroes could not rebuild This World on their own.

This was not right. Master Hand could not accept the fact that This World, the beautiful, serene, perfect world he had found, was now a wasteland. There must be some way to restore the peaceful life lost to Tabuu, there must be.

Master Hand had but a few trophies left, just a few he had salvaged after the war: some humans, some pokémon, and some other miscellaneous beings. Tabuu had drained the life from them, they could not be revived by normal means. Master Hand had since regained enough power to give them life once more, but what was the point. They would wake to a world of devastation, and they didn't deserve that. The heroes don't deserve this. Crazy Hand didn't deserve this. They deserved better.

Master Hand looked up, past the giant X and to the cosmos beyond. The 10th dimension was infinite, This World could not be the only place for them. Somewhere in that massive expanse of nothingness was a new home.

With this realization, Master Hand dashed into the skies, pulling away from the gravitational orbit of the floating landmass he had called home for the last many decades, and he didn't look back. This World was no longer his world, he would find another. And when he did, he would come back and bring his creations to a new world. He would erase their painful memories of This World, of war; he would revive the few fallen trophies he had; he would find a way to cure his brother; he would correct his mistakes.

Master Hand would not be tethered to the aftermath of chaos, not anymore.

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**So yeah, a big experiment for me. No dialogue, no humor, yet it was really fun to write (though I did get a little depressed halfway through...)**.

**Sorry if it gets confusing. The writing style basically switches from present time to flashback constantly, but it shouldn't be to hard to tell which is which.**

**So tell me what you think. As I've said, I've never done serious before, and I'd love some feedback. :)**


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